Spicy Slow Cooker Black Beans

Black beans are slow-cooked in a tomato chili sauce, creating a delicious and versatile dish. It can be served for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or as a dip.

We love black beans

We love the Spicy Black Bean Dip from Trader Joes.  The problem is the closest TJ’s is 3 hours away on a good driving day.  Hit traffic or bad weather and you’re looking at 4 hours to Detroit.  I usually stock up when I go, or when friends make the pilgrimage, they know to grab me some.  But frankly, I’m tired of waiting.  I want my bean dip when I want it!  My friend Sara inspired me to cook dried beans in my slow cooker. I figured, why not add a few spices and see if I could figure out TJ’s black bean dip?  It took a few tries, but what I came up with is pretty darn close to TJ’s jarred version, maybe even better because it’s more versatile. Spicy Slow Cooker Black Beans store well for over a week in your refrigerator, and you can use them in many different ways!  Eat them as a side dish to any Mexican fare or grilled meat.  Eat them as a dip.  Put them in quesadillas,  burritos, or tacos.  I have even used this bean recipe as the bean layer for Mexican Layer Dip!

Gather these ingredients

How to make slow cooker black beans

This recipe takes a little forethought, but hey, good things come to those who wait, right?!  Place 1 pound of dried black beans in a large bowl, cover with water, and let sit for at least 2 hours, or overnight is best. Drain and rinse the beans. Place them in a 5-quart slow cooker.

Place the following ingredients in a food processor or a blender:  a peeled medium onion cut into large chunks, three chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, three cloves of garlic, tomato paste, brown sugar, pepperoncini plus juice, cumin, and a jalapeno pepper. Blend this together really well, like an onion smoothie.

Pour the onion smoothie over the black beans in the slow cooker.

Add 2 cups of chicken broth, turn dial to high and cook for 6 hours.

The beans will take on the liquid and the smoky flavors of the chipotle peppers and spices.  Some slow cookers run hot; if that’s the case with yours, you may need to turn it down to low and let it cook longer. That’s all there is to it!  If you feel friendly, you could put some in jars and share them with friends!  I would need to make a double batch to share; my family devoured this batch.

Tips & Variations

I love having these beans on hand, they are a great compliment to so many dishes.  Not to mention the fact that they are low in fat, and good for you.  

• I will warm up a bowl of spicy black beans for lunch and eat them as dip with tortilla chips.
• My kids are active, and I need to make sure that I have healthy options ready for them so they don’t run out the door to practice with their tummies empty or full of junk. My oldest often mixes Spicy Black Beans with rice and warms them up in the microwave for a quick pre-practice snack.
• Make a black bean and cheese quesadilla.
• We love to eat these beans with a soft yolk egg on top and a toasted tortilla. It’s a huevos rancheros of sorts!

What kids doesn’t love a quesadilla and if you can fill it with flavorful ingredients what could be better?  Chicken, cheese and spicy black bean quesadilla pleases everyone in my home.

This is how we do it! A corn tortilla ever so slightly warmed in a frying pan is topped with spicy black beans, then an egg sunny side up, cheddar cheese, and a dollop of salsa verde. It’s heaven. I could eat this every day for lunch for the rest of my life!

Let me know if you make this recipe by rating it in the recipe card below, leaving me a comment, sharing on your socials or pinning it. Thanks for being here. XO Sheila

Spicy Slow Cooker Black Beans

Sheila

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Ingredients

  

• 1 16 ounce bag dried Black Beans
• 1 medium sweet Onion skinned and cut into chunks
• 3 Chipotle Peppers in adobo sauce
• 3 clove Garlic
• 1 6 ounce can Tomato Paste
• 1 16 ounce jar Pepperoncini’s and juice
• 1 Jalepeno top cut off, and seeds cut out
• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground Cumin
• 2 cups Chicken Broth or Vegetable Broth
• juice of 1/2 Lime
• salt to taste

Instructions

 

• Place beans in a large bowl cover with water, making sure water is at least an inch over the beans. Let set for a minimum of 2 hours best if over night. Rinse and place in large slow cooker, I use a 7 quart cooker for this recipe.
• Add onion, garlic, tomato paste, whole jar pepperoncini with juice, jalepeno pepper, brown sugar, and cumin in a blender or food processor.  Turn on high and blend until everything is combined and it’s the consistency of an onion shake! Pour over beans in crock pot, scraping sides of blender bowl with a spatula to get all the goodies out and in with the beans. Pour  broth in with the beans. Cover and cook on high setting for 6 hours.  Stir occasionally if you can.

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